10 Years On: The Northern Quarter

In this “10 Years On” series, we’ll look at OBI blogs from a decade ago – what did we get right, what did we get wrong, how has the picture changed? First up, Will Lewis on the Northern Quarter’s appeal.

As Will explains, the Northern Quarter had become something of an office destination by 2015, with the Hive and the redeveloped Sevendale House two of the buildings pulling in occupiers drawn by a more creative, bohemian atmosphere than the traditional office core.

What strikes about us in this blog is the quote from the Manchester Strategy 2016-2025, where city leaders express their desire to be in the “top flight” of world cities by the period’s end. There’s a clear indication here of what we see now with the Global Manchester story – massive strides have been made across key assets that make Manchester what it is: the airport, the universities and knowledge economies, sports and culture.

Another point made was “there’s still plenty to go at” with buildings “ripe for reinterpretation”.  and that’s true – just this year a consultation has opened on the replacement of the Church Street car park by residential, and Marlsbro House has been sold to be reimagined to a modern workspace.

That flows on from others raising the bar. Fourways House saw £5m spent on a series of refurbs, and was traded last year for £20m-plus. There are great options across the board now, such as at 35 Dale Street, and at the character-packed Cottonopolis on Newton Street.

Residential has grown too – plenty of apartments have been built around Port Street in particular. The NQ has matured, with national and international brands – Nudie Jeans, Carhartt, Turtle Bay Restaurants – joining the thriving local independents, which the Northern Quarter is so well known for.

Will also tipped the natural progression of commercial and leisure development cheek-by-jowl spreading across Great Ancoats Street, and this has definitely taken place, with the Express Buildings redevelopment leading the way. Ancoats’ role in the modern Manchester is now well established. One Express and Two Express followed and have been major successes.

So we got more right than wrong on this one – although you might say predicting big things for Manchester’s coolest area wasn’t the toughest call!

You can read the original article here:
https://obiproperty.co.uk/will-lewis-on-the-northern-quarters-appeal